From Kenza: Desire

Murakami elaborates on a range of human desires and each character’s attempts to obtain the power to control what they need in life. One route followed is the path of sexual development often linked to each character's journey of self discovery. Some characters in the novel are portrayed as victims of desire, whether their own or that of others. These characters include Toru, Kumiko, Noburo Wataya and Creta Kano. Of these, Kumiko is the one that suffers the most from the things she does in order to deal with her restlessness and unhappiness by attempting fill the vacuum by transposing her inexpressible desires through a sexual outlet. Her desire leads her to commit adultery with another man, but results only in abysmal self-hatred and frustration. She abandons everything she has worked for and put up with in the last six years and moves away from her home. May Kasahara’s desire is portrayed differently. Her part in the motorcycle accident that killed her boyfriend can be seen as her desire to indulge some uncontrollable part of herself. It is almost as if she can’t help herself from testing her limits until she proves the control she can have over herself. Noburo Wataya is another character that is a victim of desire. The desire he feels has to do with his growing thirst for power. The many and various forms of desire expressed by the characters imply how we are often victims of impulses we do not understand and have difficulty controlling.